New Enterprise Associates (NEA) is an American-based venture capital firm. NEA focuses investment stages ranging from seed stage through growth stage across an array of industry sectors. With over $18 billion in assets under management, NEA was the world's largest venture capital firm in 2007.[1][2][3][2][4][5]

Since its founding, NEA invested in nearly 1,000 companies, and realized over 560 liquidity events (with close to 250 portfolio company IPOs and over 300 portfolio company acquisitions).[2]

NEA was founded in 1977 by C. Richard (Dick) Kramlich, Chuck Newhall and Frank Bonsal.[7] Kramlich had worked with noted venture capitalist Arthur Rock beginning 1969 and Frank Bosnal had been an investment banker at Alex. Brown & Sons where he focused on initial public offerings (IPOs) for startup companies.[7] Chuck Newhall had previously managed an investment fund for T. Rowe Price in the 1970s. The firm was founded with offices on both the East Coast and the West Coast. Among the firm's first investments was 3Com, which NEA backed along with Mayfield Fund and Jack Melchor in 1981.[8]

The first NEA investment fund had only $16 million of capital. The firm's second fund raised $45 million and the third fund collected $125 million of commitments from investors in 1984. The firm continued to grow steadily throughout the 1980s and early 1990s raising $900 million from 1987 through 1996 across NEA's next four funds.[7] Beginning with NEA-8 in 1998, the firm greatly increased the size of its investment funds. NEA's tenth fund had $2.3 billion of investor commitments in 2000. After raising a more modest $1.1 billion in 2004 for the firm's eleventh fund, NEA was able to raise $2.3 billion and $2.5 billion for its next two funds, respectively.[9][10]
In 2010, NEA launched its thirteenth investment fund with $2.5 billion of investor capital, the largest since the Financial crisis of 2007–08.[11]
In 2012, NEA closed its fourteenth investment fund with $2.6 billion of investor capital.[2][5]
In April 2015, NEA closed its fifteenth investment fund with $3.1 billion in investor capital - the largest venture capital fund ever raised.[12] In June 2017, NEA closed its sixteenth investment fund with $3.3 billion in investor capital - again the largest venture capital fund ever raised.[13]